Oil And Gas Dependence Weakening Russia's Resistance to Crisis - Kudrin
MAKHACHKALA, Russia. Jan 14 (Interfax) - Russia's dependence on oil and gas exports may "double" the impact on the country of the second wave of the global financial crisis, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin warned on Saturday.
Russia's "congenital problems" amplify the effects of the crisis on the country, Kudrin said at a meeting at Dagestan State University in Makhachkala.
"One of them is the problem of dependence on energy. Forty percent of state revenues and 40% to 45% of Russia's GDP come from profits from sales of oil and gas. This means that Russia may get a double blow during the second wave of the economic crisis," he said.
Focusing on the national currency alone would be the wrong path to take, he argued.
Strengthening the ruble would result in cheaper imports and hence damage domestic production, while taking no measures to strengthen the currency might set off uncontrolled inflation, he said.
He called for a diversified range of measures, including inflation control.
Kudrin gave a lecture at the university meeting entitled "The Global Economic Crisis and the Development Outlook for Russia."
University rector Murtuzali Rabadanov awarded him a diploma and gown of an honorary professor. Rabadanov said the title had been conferred on Kudrin in April 2011.
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